


Of Birds and Bugs

by rhub4rb



Series: NeTi [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M, Idolenette, Salt, ml salt, uncle Jagged
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2020-09-26 09:16:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20387317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhub4rb/pseuds/rhub4rb
Summary: Marinette was a busy girl. Between her idol work as NeTi, and her duty as Ladybug, it was hard to do everything else, like being a good class president. Still, she was able to pull through.Somehow, the class get's a trip to Gotham, sponsored by Bruce Wayne himself, and it looked like Marinette would be able to take a break for once.But things are hardly ever that simple when you're a spotted superheroine, are they?





	1. A lot of meetings, a lot of life

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is of course based on the wonderful ozmav's maribat au

It had been an awful day.

Marinette sighed as the final bell rang and the students got up from their seats, preparing to head home.

She could hear Alya and Lila snickering behind their hands as she picked up her backpack, and she could feel the glaring eyes of her classmates boring into her neck as she stood up.

Marinette took a deep breath.

These days came, all dependant on how Lila was feeling. Sometimes, Lila would be getting all the attention in the world, praise, love and admiration flooding to her, and she would breathe it in like fresh air, as if she had been drowning. Other times, she would be bored, and then she would look to Marinette for entertainment, hunting her down and burn her at the stake.

It was awful.

But Marinette had learned to live with it, for some time. In the beginning, the promise, idea, and the hope that Adrien had her back, motivated her enough to keep going. When that promise fell through, Marinette clambered to Uncle J and Clara, drowned herself in the lyrics, and revived herself with the melody and beat.

She sighed, looking at Adrien's seat.

It admittedly took a while, but eventually, they were no longer in whatever the hell the Lila situation was, together. It had hurt, but Marinette was quick to get over it. Over him.

"Of course I was invited to the charity gala tomorrow," Lila said, eyelashes fluttering. "but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go."

The class gathered around the liar, drawn like a moth to the flame, but Marinette just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You see, I have this important conference call with Prince Ali tomorrow, and I really can't miss it." Lila amended.

"Girl, I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out, so many famous people are gonna be there!" Alya exclaimed excitedly.

Losing Alya had been like a slap in the face.

She was probably the last person Marinette had expected to lose, but she had been the first to pack her bags and leave. Alya and Lila left the class. Marinette didn't care.

She stopped caring a couple of years ago.

As Marinette headed towards the door of the classroom, she didn't notice the foot that discreetly shot out, tripping her up, but she was quick to regain her balance, looking around in disgruntled confusion. When her eyes landed on the retreating backs of Alya and Lila, both of them cackling loudly, she just let out another sigh.

She had better things to worry about than the people Alya chose to hang out with.

The upcoming days would be busy for Marinette, so there was no point in wasting time thinking about a bond long broken.

She and Master Fu had been meeting frequently, her training for becoming the next Guardian beginning to get more and more serious.

The only "positive" thing Marinette could think came from the whole Lila situation, was all of the extra free time she had gotten.

* * *

Master Fu's place had always been a place of comfort for Marinette, and after the day that she had, it was a comfort that was much needed. Dealing with Lila was draining, especially on the days were Lila seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

So, as Marinette stepped inside the parlor, she couldn't help but take a deep breath, finally letting the tension leave her shoulders.

Thoughts about Lila could take a break, with Master Fu, matters of the miraculous came first, and that required a clear mind and a clear soul. As Marinette took a seat, after a polite greeting to Master Fu and Wayzz, a cup of tea was quickly placed in front of her, and they were ready to begin. For the last couple of days, they had been discussing the severity of the situation with Chat Noir, and whether or not they should be taking more drastic measures.

"Marinette, I hope you've been well." Master Fu had always been polite, and he knew that the upcoming discussion was one that made Marinette uncomfortable, so he was easing her into it. The topic of changing partners was rarely a very nice conversation.

"You as well," Marinette replied.

She closed her eyes, rolled her shoulders, breathing in for 7 seconds, breathing out for 11 seconds, before she opened her eyes again, her expression serious as she looked at Master Fu.

"It's getting worse with Chat Noir." It was a statement, but Marinette nodded anyways.

"He's getting out of control," Marinette noted.

The last Akuma attack had been intense, but Chat Noir refused to take action.

Marinette had turned him down again that day, so he was in a particularly bad mood. He had thrown another tantrum, and Marinette had barely won.

"I know."

* * *

The conversation replayed itself in Marinette's head all through practice with Clara.

It was a monthly thing between her and Clara, they would meet up at the dance studio, and then go through Marinette's newest choreography. It was a nice little thing they had going on, which was why it made it so frustrating for Marinette that she had a hard time enjoying it. She had been distracted the entire time, and Clara had taken notice by the end of the practice.

"Care to tell me what's wrong, or do you want me to find out myself what's going on?"

Marinette let out a sigh, letting her shoulders droop.

"I... I don't know."

Clara hummed in thought, before a mischievous grin spread across her face.

"You've been distracted," Clara noted, grin growing wider. "tell me, is it someone attractive?"

Marinette snorted, shaking her head at the rhyming star.

"I wish." Marinette sighed. "Lila was just... a little more Lila today." She explained.

Clara's teasing grin immediately disappeared, a look of worry and anger taking its place.

"Someone should take that girl down a peg. I was personally thinking, maybe a broken leg?"

In any other context, Marinette would have thought Clara was joking, but her voice had been grave with a seriousness that spoke of her anger. Marinette was quick to try and reassure that she was fine.

"Nothing happened." Marinette looked Clara in the eyes, giving her a small smile. "She was just being stupid." Marinette's smile grew a little. "She even lied and said she was invited to the gala tomorrow."

It was a small comfort to Marinette.

Despite all that Lile loved to lie about knowing all these people and be invited to all these things, at the end of the day, that was _ Marinette _ .  _ Marinette _ knew all sorts of famous people,  _ Marinette _ was invited to all sorts of events that Lila could only ever hear about. At least there was that.

When Marinette had been younger, she had never imagined that she would ever live the type of life that others would lie about having. Sure, she had Uncle J, and he had always told her that one day, she was going to be a star, but she had never thought much of it. If something happened, then great. If Marinette became a popular idol and sold albums, that would have been wonderful. But she would have been just as happy working from the sidelines, designing for those who chose to shine on stage.

And it had started like that, too, but then Jagged introduced Marinette to Clara and things  _ changed. _

One day she would be satisfied with just working as a designer, but at the moment, there was nothing Marinette enjoyed more than being on stage.

"Those classmates are gonna regret they ever crossed you, Netta." Clara suddenly said. "They will someday see how you are so much better."

Marinette smiled.

"I know."

* * *

Tikki looked at her chosen as she darted around her room, trying to get ready for the gala before her car arrived. Sure, it wasn't necessary for her chosen to be there exactly on time, but Marinette did not want to be late, especially when her popularity in France wasn't exactly at the top.

At least Asia loved her.

Tikki had been worried for Marinette, and had been ever since the first instance with Lila happened. It had been hard to see her chosen to get mistreated so much, it was something that had never become easier with each new holder.

Tikki hated being forced to watch her chosen to suffer, unable to do anything as they were beaten, bullied and killed, all because of some rules. Of course, she understood the importance of the rules, that they were in place just as much for their safety, as well as a holder's.

But knowing that never made it easier.

So Tikki took comfort in the knowledge that tonight, it was not about Lila or Ladybug, but it was more about Marinette.

"Oh shoot, I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late-"

Even if Marinette was worried about not making it in time.

"Marinette!" Tikki finally yelled, after having seen her chosen run around her room, looking for something, for the 6th time. "What are you looking for?"

Marinette's pure look of relief at getting Tikki's help warmed Tikki's heart, and Tikki continued with assisting Marinette in her preparations; brushing Marinette's hair, smoothing out the deep red chiffon of her dress, helping to tighten the black corset.

Marinette had been proud of her design, even if it probably wasn't something you would normally wear to a formal gala, with a tight, knee-length black skirt, and a one-sleeved, red chiffon top, that went all the way to the floor. The black corset was something Marinette found tied the entire outfit together, and it was a nice little nod to her last mini-album.

Tikki was proud of her chosen. She had always found Marinette's ability to turn all of the negativity around her into art, something incredible.

Marinette kissed Tikki on the cheek, Tikki giving one in return before Marinette put Tikki in the black purse she had chosen for the occasion.

* * *

The flashing lights of the cameras reflected the stars shining brightly above them tonight, Marinette noted, as she, Jagged and Clara all posed for a picture together.

The cameras had been overwhelming for Marinette, in the beginning. She wasn't used to being in the spotlight.

Of course, Jagged, Penny, and Clara were all quick to reassure Marinette that it wouldn't always be like that. Jagged had told her that he had been deathly afraid of looking dumb in pictures for the press, and he had started his career a lot later than she had.

15 years old.

It had taken 2 years, but Marinette was able to finally debut at the age of 15.

When she thought of it that way, it struck Marinette how long she had been in the industry, and briefly, she worried that perhaps that was why she had gotten the downfall in her class.

Marinette smiled more to the flashing cameras, as she, as well as Jagged, Penny and Clara, finally made it inside of the giant ballroom.

She wasn't going to blame her success for her downfall. She refused to.

Everyone else in that class had things they were dedicated to, things they were passionate about, but it had never cost them this much.

Marinette greeted various celebrities and rich people, all of them having varying degrees of surprise on their face at her presence.

Marinette, understandably, was proud of her achievements. She wasn't going to let horrible classmates and a bad liar ruin that pride for her. Marinette had achieved so many things, done so much good, and even if Marinette disliked being selfish and asking for more, she felt as if it was okay for her to say that she deserved a little better than what her class was giving her.

She was cut off from her chain of thought by Jagged Stone, swinging his arm over her shoulder as he lead Marinette somewhere.

"Mari, you have to meet my old friend here." Jagged exclaimed loudly as he lead Marinette closer and closer to a very business looking man. "I don't even know how I haven't introduced you yet." He continued, tapping on the man's shoulder enthusiastically once they arrived. "Mari, this is Bruce, he's a really good friend of mine." Jagged grinned wildly, shoving Marinette's and Bruce's hands together for a handshake. "Bruce, this is Mari, my favorite niece, and rockstar."

Bruce blinked, probably not expecting the sudden handshake, but quickly came out of his stupor, gracing Marinette with a small, professional-looking smile.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you. My sons are big fans of your work."

Her eyes widened, Marinette glowing with pride at the knowledge that  _ the _ Bruce Wayne knew about her.

_ And his sons liked her music too. _

"It's a great honor to meet you as well, thank you!"

The trio quickly fell into a comfortable conversation after that, Marinette off-handedly mentioning that she was trying to plan a class trip, but that the school's budget was a bit tight. They also talked about her next comeback, and when it was going to happen, and when Marinette felt like they had been talking about her for too long, was quick to change the subject to Jagged's upcoming projects.


	2. Of Monday mornings

Marinette hadn’t put much thought into school, the weekend of the gala.

She knew that the pictures of the event would be all over social media, seeing as it had been a big deal. But not once had she thought about her classmates seeing it. Not once had she thought about Lila seeing it.

The night had been wonderful, very long, but wonderful, and Marinette’s manager was sure that her appearing at the event would boost her popularity in France.

But just because there had been a gala, did not mean Marinette was free from practice the next day. Sunday afternoon, Marinette came into the dance studio and late Sunday evening, Marinette left.

Marinette had been exhausted, and she had fallen asleep the moment her body had hit her chaise.

So, it was safe to say, Marinette’s brain had not been thinking about Lila and her classmates seeing the gala photos.

Maybe, if Marinette had thought about it, she would have noticed the weird, tense silence that entered the courtyard when Marinette arrived at school Monday morning. Maybe, Marinette would have noticed all the stares full of awe that were sent her way when she walked up the stairs.

But practice had been long that Sunday, so Marinette was tired, and she hadn’t completely woken up yet.

She wasn’t allowed to stay inside of her half-asleep state however because the moment she stepped foot inside the classroom, she wished she had just stayed at home in bed, like her parents had offered her.

“I can’t _believe_ you know NeTi, Lila.”

Marinette froze at the door, a feeling of nausea rising inside her, the world turning, to the point she had to support herself up the door.

“Of course! I was the one who introduced her to Clara Nightingale as well.” Lila’s smile was sickeningly sweet, promising more than anyone bargained for. “Clara had originally wanted me as her protegé, but I’m simply too busy with all of my charity work, I was forced to turn her down.”

Bile rose in Marinette’s throat, but she swallowed it, along with her tears. Marinette was about to respond that, no, Lila did not, in fact, introduce NeTi to Clara, that was Jagged, but it seemed someone else had something to say on the matter.

“But isn’t Marinette NeTi?”

Alix.

Marinette almost burst into tears right there, the sheer amount of joy and happiness overflowing in her, overflooding and spreading.

“Marinette?” Lila huffed in disbelief, but Marinette could see it, the anger, the way her shoulders were tense, the way her hands fisted. “Of course not, they just look alike, you know,” Lila glanced at Marinette, and Marinette could feel her heart dropping to the floor, heavy with lead and misery. “Because they’re Asian.”

Anger cracked through the lead and misery, until Marinette’s heart almost burst at the seams.

She opened her mouth, ready to explain and to call Lila out, especially for the racist comment, but Adrien sensed what was coming, and from his position beside Lila, quickly sent Marinette a pleading look.

_Don’t expose her_, it said.

_She isn’t hurting anyone_, it said.

It didn’t say that they were in it together. Because that simply wasn’t true.

But it was enough to enforce the quiet in Marinette, and her dry mouth clamped shut, blood roaring in her ears.

Marinette didn’t spare the class another glance. She just turned her back and walked out.

* * *

Alix had been excited for school that Monday.

Who wouldn’t be when they just found out their class president was a freaking idol?

Plus, it had felt like the perfect way to mend the broken bond between the class and Marinette.

Alix never really thought that the stuff Marinette did had been all that bad, Chloe had been way worse, and it wasn’t often that Marinette hated someone without good reason.

But Marinette had become more distant since Lila had arrived, always claiming to be busy with something, saying that she had things to do. Back then, it had hurt. Marinette was a good friend, and suddenly she just didn’t seem interested in any of them anymore.

Of course, the class hadn’t exactly been the nicest to her then.

And, as Alix thought it over as she took her seat in the class, Marinette probably _had_ been busy. 

With idol stuff.

So cool.

Alix immediately shot Kim an excited grin, one returned wholeheartedly.

“Did you see the pictures of Marinette this weekend?” Alix asked her grin growing wider.

“Did I? My mom wanted to frame them!” Kim tried to make it sound like he was complaining, but the wide smile on his face betrayed his real feelings on the matter. “Did you hear some of her music?”

Alix took out her phone and opened it to show him the first full album.

** _‘Butterfly.’_ **

“It’s freaking sick. You wouldn’t think that rock music would fit so well with that whole idol thing.”

The rest of the class filed in, all discussing Marinette, or NeTi as she apparently went by as a performer, with various degrees of excitement. Alya looked like she was about to explode having to wait for Marinette, probably hoping to get an interview, more than anything.

Alix and Kim were so caught up in their little conversation that they didn’t even hear what the rest of class was saying, not paying them any attention until they heard Alya’s voice cut through the classroom.

“I can’t _believe_ you know NeTi, Lila.”

All conversation in the classroom halted, and none of them even seemed to notice the frozen Marinette at the door.

“Of course! I was the one who introduced her to Clara Nightingale as well.” Alix knew that wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true, because Marinette was NeTi. It was obvious that she was NeTi. So Alix did the right thing. “Clara had originally wanted me as her protegé, but I’m simply too busy with all of my charity work, I was forced to turn her down.”

She spoke up.

“But isn’t Marinette NeTi?”

Alix hardly noticed the annoyed glare Lila had sent her way, before Lila put on that too sweet smile, but Alix noticed and now it was so _obvious_ what was going on.

“Marinette?” Alix was offended on Marinette’s behalf on the sheer amount of disbelief in Lila’s voice. “Of course not, they just look alike, you know,” Alix hoped that Lila wouldn’t finish that sentence the way she thought she would. “Because they’re Asian.”

Alix was just about to start yelling when she was elbowed in the side. She shot Kim a disgruntled look, but he nodded his head towards the classroom door. For a split second, as Alix turned her head to look at the door, she hoped beyond her growing dread that it wasn’t Marinette, don’t let it be Marinette-

Marinette looked so pale, like polluted snow.

She swayed, like a leaf in the wind, and she turned, and she walked out.

Alix wanted to throw up.

* * *

Kim couldn’t have gone to school fast enough, despite knowing that Marinette rarely ever came to school on time.

If there was a chance he could talk to Marinette before class started, he would very much like to.

First, to apologize for not being a good friend, and after that, to fangirl because _holy hell Marinette was an idol._

At least he understood why she had become so distant. She had been busy. Among other things.

He felt like a jerk.

And he wanted to make up for that.

Kim knew he wasn’t the only one thinking this, he had been texting Alix the whole weekend about it, as well as discussing the fact that Marinette had been an idol for almost 3 years at this point. It was weird to think about.

It had also been a rabbit hole that he quickly fell into. He found interviews, fancams, TV features, live streams, and practice videos.

Don’t even get him started on the music videos.

Before he knew it, he had become a Titanium, as Marinette’s fans were apparently called.

Even after spending the better part of the weekend talking about this with Alix, they still managed to keep a conversation going about the major secret that Marinette had held.

They understood why she had kept it a secret, of course, Marinette had even mentioned it in an interview once. How everyone around her would feel disingenuine if their behavior changed, just because they knew about her career. She didn’t want that.

Still, Kim would fangirl over the fact that he was in the same class as an international star.

His and Alix’s discussion about which single was the best was cut short, however, by one comment.

“I can’t _believe_ you know NeTi, Lila.”

Kim’s head shot up in the direction of Alya’s voice, and sure enough the rest of the class was surrounding Lila, like she was preaching heaven speak.

He saw Marinette too, frozen and pale, opening and closing her mouth, likely trying to find words to say.

She didn’t get the chance to say anything.

“Of course! I was the one who introduced her to Clara Nightingale as well.” Lila’s voice didn’t sound right in his ears, like it used to. “Clara had originally wanted me as her protegé, but I’m simply too busy with all of my charity work, I was forced to turn her down.”

Marinette was shaking. Her head, her hands, almost like she had been dumped in icy water.

Kim didn’t even know what to say, and only looked at Marinette with growing concern.

“But isn’t Marinette NeTi?”

The amount of happiness Kim saw taking over Marinette by just that made him want to punch a hole in the wall.

“Marinette?” Punch a hole in Lila, he meant. “Of course not, they just look alike, you know,” Kim really wanted to punch a hole in Lila. “Because they’re Asian.”

Kim saw Marinette’s anger flare, prepares to back her up when she snaps at Lila, notes Marinette opening her mouth-

She wilts like a flower in winter, and Kim follows her eyes.

Adrien.

He seemed to be looking at Marinette disapprovingly, almost like he doesn’t-

The sick realization forces Kim to elbow Alix, because nothing seemed to be what it looked like anymore.

* * *

Marinette decided to head home.

She didn't know what else to do, but the thought of passing by Master Fu’s place later seemed rather appealing.

For now, the comforting weight of Tikki against her leg had to be enough, until she reached home.

When she reached the courtyard, however, she was stopped by a boy with black hair and a red hoodie.

It was Marc.

“Hey, Marinette, I was just, uhm, I was just wondering if maybe, you could, uh, you could sign this for me?”

Her eyes widened, tears welling up as she looked between him and the notebook he was holding out to her.

“I… I would love to.” Her voice was hoarse and thick with emotion, and Marinette was quick to cough in hopes of clearing it up a bit. “What- uhm, what would you like me to sign it as?”

“Could you maybe sign it Marinette ‘NeTi’ Dupain-Cheng for me?” He’s smiling, and Marinette can barely hold the tears back as she accepts the notebook and pen, doing her best to sign it well, hoping to not spill tears on the page.

She leaves a message for him, of course, and hugs him tightly when she’s done, whispering quiet thank you’s in hopes that he understands what he just did for her.

He waves goodbye as she leaves, and Marinette, despite still feeling the heaviness of Lila and Adrien weighing on her, takes a deep liberating breath, and smiles.


	3. Of classes and revelations

The class continued chatting on, as if nothing happened.

Because nothing did.

Adrien sighed in relief, his shoulders sagging as he realized the confrontation that was just evaded.

He looked at the door where Marinette had been not long before, and almost felt a pang of guilt. But then he turned his eyes on Lila, smiling and chatting happily with Alya about NeTi, and about how the idol's career started, Alya writing it all down, perhaps for a later article.

Lila may not have given Marinette the credit that she had deserved, but that wouldn't have happened if Marinette had just been upfront with the class to begin with about being an idol. Wasn't she the one who was so against Lila for lying to them?

So, Adrien didn't let himself feel guilty about asking Marinette to keep quiet.

He glanced to Alix and Kim's seat, only to find the two already looking at him, their brows furrowed. Adrien knew he had to speak to them, make them keep quiet about this.

It was a good thing that now Marinette probably had more people than just him supporting her, but it wouldn't help anyone if they started to become aggressive with Lila.

It had taken Adrien long enough to keep Marinette quiet, so if Alix and Kim started becoming more vocal about their issues, Marinette might start up again.

Adrien got a headache just thinking about it.

He knew that Marinette had been lonely since Lila started, but Marinette was strong and could get through it. Adrien wasn't so sure that Lila could do the same.

Adrien returned his attention to the front of the class, Mme. Bustier calling everyone's names. She didn't call on Marinette though. He realized that she must have been called in sick, and his grip on his pen tightened.

Marinette was strong, she could handle it. Even if a small part of Adrien was screaming at him that something was wrong.

He kept repeating that to himself throughout the lesson, ignored everyone's excited whispers, and determinedly kept writing notes.

He could give Marinette a copy after school, and probably talk to her about the whole NeTi thing.

It wouldn't do if NeTi suddenly came out and exposed Lila.

For a brief moment, he wondered if he should be worried about what Lila could have told Alya. Sure, a few lies wouldn't do much damage, but if it was something serious, Alya could end up getting sued for slander. He would need to talk to Marinette about that too.

Adrien didn't realize how stressed out the situation was making him until the bell rang, and the first period was over.

He let out a long sigh.

Maybe he could talk to his Lady later to help destress. They had patrol that night, if he remembered correctly, so maybe he could talk to her then. After that, he could talk to Marinette about Ladybug, maybe even ask for some advice! Marinette had always been good at that kind of stuff, Adrien noted, as he thought about all of the couples that Marinette had helped get together.

Adrien grinned as he walked out of the classroom with Nino, hardly even noticing the two incredulous glares sent his way.

* * *

"Adrien _can't_ know about Lila," Alix said, disbelief clear in her voice.

Kim sighed, looking down at his desk.

"I know, but what else do you think happened?" Kim asked.

Alix and Kim hadn't paid Mme. Bustier any attention during class, instead focusing on sharing notes discussing what happened that morning, and trying to figure out where the hell Adrien fit into all of it.

"I don't know, but do you really think Adrien would just let Lila lie to all of us?"

That was another topic that they had discussed in great detail in their paper conversation. Alix had discreetly used her phone throughout the lesson, looking up anything she could find on Lila Rossi on the internet, only to come up empty-handed.

Then she looked up more stuff on NeTi, and her heart had sunk.

A french article, talking about** 'Butterfly'** and it's title track **'Flutter.'**

** _"I meant to write Flutter with a lot of symbolism," NeTi stated. "but akumas and what they represent was the biggest thing for me while writing. I've almost been akumatized a couple of times, and everything surrounding akumatizations is very serious to me."_ **

_'I've almost been akumatized a couple of times.'_

It really hadn't hit Alix how the class might have affected Marinette until that moment.

Alix had immediately showed Kim the article, and his jaw had tightened as he read it over.

"I mean... he's never really _stood up_ for anyone before, besides Chloé really," Kim said.

Alix tried to remember, tried to think of some time where Adrien had said something to defend the others in the class, but couldn't think of anything.

She remembered Marinette doing that a lot though.

"We need to talk to Marinette," Alix stated.

"And we need to talk to Adrien," Kim added.

Of course, neither of them wanted to believe that Adrien would ask Marinette to endure all of what she had been through alone, but they also didn't know the entire situation.

Alix groaned in irritation.

"If we had just listened to Marinette from the start..." Alix trailed off.

They were lucky that they hadn't been akumatized, in Alix's opinion. The tension was high between the two, and they looked at their other classmates in wonder.

How could they not know?

It wasn't fair of them to question the others in the class, they knew that, but now that they were so sure about Lila's dishonesty, it was as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

What they couldn't understand was what Lila might have against Marinette.

It was clear that everything Lila had said about Marinette had been deliberate, Alix thought. Lila wanted the class to turn on their president. What she couldn't figure out for the life of her was why. Marinette was a good person, she was kind and compassionate, there was no way that Marinette could have done something purposefully harmful towards Lila to make Lila hate her.

Alix looked at Adrien.

Did he play a part in it? Maybe Lila had been the jealous one, rather than Marinette. Alix winced.

They had played off all of Marinette's concerns and warnings regarding Lila as nothing but petty jealousy. Alix clenched her jaw, glaring at Adrien from where she sat.

Just what part did he play in all of this?

* * *

Marinette wasn't crying when she came home.

Getting stopped by Marc on her way home had probably helped that.

She never thought that she would have ever signed something from one of her fellow students, but Marinette appreciated the gesture.

She hoped he liked her message too.

Sabine and Tom looked at her questioningly when she walked into the bakery, but one tired look from Marinette, and Sabine was quick to call Mme. Bustier and inform her that Marinette would not be going to school that day.

Her parents looked at her understandingly, and Marinette walked into the apartment and up to her room, where she collapsed on her chaise, ready to fall asleep.

Tikki came out of Marinette's purse, looking down on her holder in worry.

"You heard Alix too, right Tikki?" Marinette asked, voice soft.

Tikki's eyes softened, and she flew down to her chosen's cheek, nuzzling it comfortingly.

"Of course I did, Marinette."

They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the quiet, Marinette falling in and out of sleep.

She would go see Master Fu later, and then there was practice, but other than that, Marinette was planning on taking it slow. The whole Lila situation that morning had been draining, and if it was up to Marinette, she would have revealed Lila's lies right then and there.

But then Adrien had looked at her so pleadingly, and Marinette felt so _guilty. _Lila may lie, but she didn't deserve to get humiliated and akumatized. As much as Marinette didn't like Lila, it was true that she didn't deserve that.

_But did that mean Marinette deserved to be ostracised? Deserve the blame?_

She certainly didn't think so, but the others also kept telling her things that were her fault. Briefly, Marinette wondered if she didn't deserve the blame, that maybe it was misplaced, but then she thought about how many people told her that she did deserve it.

Not all of those people could be wrong.

She sighed.

Thinking about it like she was wouldn't help her. She needed to get her mind off of Lila and relax, she couldn't afford another breakdown. Not when she was so tired, she didn't know if she would be able to hold off an Akuma.

Groggily, she got up from her chaise and found her sketchbook. Maybe she could work on her next release outfit for a bit before heading to Master Fu.

The title track was one about letting go of nightmares, about ending stories. Marinette was ready to move on. She was tired of dealing with Lila and Alya, Marinette wanted to be able to smile and have it not feel forced.

Though, Marinette mused, maybe it wouldn't be too long until the class realized who Lila truly was, thinking back to Alix questioning what Lila had been saying that morning.

So Marinette guessed that Adrien had been right, at one point, Lila's lies exposed Lila for who she really was.

But the damage had already been done, hadn't it?

Nino and Alya had broken up. It had been one of the first things to happen. Ivan and Mylene had followed suit not that long ago.

The class kept fighting with one another too, mainly because of something Lila would say. Marinette had seen her turn on the crocodile tears more than once.

Lila liked attention. That's what Marinette had gotten from the entire thing. It was something Lila seemed almost desperate for, and Marinette wondered if it was because her parents didn't give her any.

Not that it excused what Lila was doing.

Marinette sighed.

It wasn't the time to think about Lila.

* * *

It wasn't until lunch that Adrien was finally able to approach Kim and Alix.

Lila had been particularly handsy that day, and she almost wouldn't have let him leave, at least until he said that he needed to use the bathroom.

Adrien mused that she probably felt threatened that morning and needed some type of support. He could understand, Adrien had nearly choked on his breakfast Sunday morning as he saw the pictures of Marinette with Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale.

He looked at Kim and Alix, nodding in their direction, and it seemed that they got the idea, because they both stood and followed him soon after.

They went into the empty classroom, none of them saying a word. The air was static, and Adrien didn't like the look he was getting from Kim in particular.

"About Lila-"

"You knew she was lying the whole time but you didn't tell us!?" Kim cut him off.

Adrien looked surprised for a moment, not expecting Kim's outburst, before nodding slowly.

Alix's eyes widened. She probably hadn't expected him to admit it so quickly.

"Look, it's great that you guys have realized that Lila is lying, but I don't want you to expose her."

Alix's eyes widened more. "Excuse me?"

"Marinette and I have already talked about it," Adrien said, and Kim's mind flashed to Marinette wilting at the door. "it won't do any good, and it won't make Lila a better person."

Kim and Alix just looked at him with their mouths agape, clearly at a loss for words. Adrien decided to take that as a good sign and kept going.

"Just tell Marinette that you know the truth and that you're supporting her, that should be enough." Adrien sighed. "Lila has already been akumatized multiple times, she's a sensitive girl, and she doesn't deserve that. Marinette can handle it."

Alix's thoughts drifted to the article she read, and she punched down on a desk, hard.

"That doesn't mean that she should!" She yelled out. Adrien's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "Just because Marinette can 'handle it' doesn't mean that she should..." Alix choked out.

She thought about all the horrible things the class had contributed in doing to Marinette, just because Lila had said a couple of pretty lies and shed a few tears. All of that just because Marinette could 'handle it'?

_'I've almost been akumatized a couple of times.'_

Adrien sighed.

"It doesn't matter," Adrien shook his head. "It's not like Lila is actually hurting anybody anyway, exposing her would only end up doing more damage than good."

A pin could have been dropped in the classroom at that moment, and its clang would have echoed loudly in the room.

"We're going." Kim suddenly proclaimed, and took Alix by the arm, leading her out.

"Just promise me you won't expose Lila," Adrien said desperately. "promise me!"

The door shut behind them with a heavy thud.

Adrien let out a curse, slumping down on his bench. He would have to walk out soon, or else Lila would probably realize that he wasn't actually in the bathroom.

He would need to talk to Marinette after school, either as Chat Noir or himself, he wasn't sure. He could persuade her into keeping Alix and Kim in check. It was clear that they wouldn't listen to him, but if Marinette was the one to tell them to lay low, they would probably listen.

Adrien smiled.

She was their everyday Ladybug after all.


	4. Of breakdowns and phone calls

Kim was stomping as he made his way out of the classroom, dragging a very reluctant Alix behind him.

It seemed she wanted to continue their talk with Adrien. With her fists.

Kim wanted to as well, there was no doubt about it. His whole body was screaming at him, telling him to turn around and beat some sense into the blonde boy.

But he also knew it wouldn't solve anything.

So, he dragged the ever fighting Alix with him back to their lunch table, where Max sat, working on his laptop.

When Kim brought them to a stop, Alix huffed and crossed her arms, not looking at either Kim or Max. Kim just rolled his eyes at her, turning his attention to Max instead.

"Hey Max, listen I know this might sound crazy, but-"

"You want help finding proof of Lila's deceit," Max pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a ray of light catching it, the glasses glinting and obscuring his eyes.

Kim just looked at him for a moment, mouth opening and closing, trying to find words to say.

"Only an idiot wouldn't be able to tell that Marinette was NeTi," Max said. "plus, I did some research into the history of her career, and none of Lila's claims can be backed up."

Max looked at the two, his brows furrowed.

"But I don't know how we should go about it. We have been rather... harsh, towards Marinette over the last couple of years."

All three of them looked down in shame.

"We should apologize to her," Alix said suddenly. "we can figure out the whole Lila thing later. For now, I think it'd be best if we let Mari know that we don't believe in Lila anymore."

The other two nodded.

"We should head over to the bakery once school ends, once we're there we will-"

"We're going now," Kim proclaimed, cutting Max off.

"Now? But school isn't over, we can't just-"

Kim ignored Max's qualms, lifting Max by the back of his shirt instead, Max scrambling to get his laptop in time, before it was out of his reach.

Kim threw Max over his shoulder, looking at Alix with a raised brow, as if asking if he needed to carry her too. Alix shook her head quickly, struggling and failing in trying to cover up her laughter.

The trio, or more accurately Kim and Alix, didn't pay their curious classmates any mind, Max flushing in embarrassment, only heading back into their classroom to get their book bags.

"You know, the others will be suspicious if we leave before school is over," Max noted from his position thrown over Kim's shoulder.

"Let them," was all Kim said in return.

Once they had packed up all of their stuff, they headed out of the school; not even telling the teacher, Max reminded them scandalized.

Mme. Bustier could live with three fewer students for the last couple of classes, they had more important things to take care of now.

* * *

Marinette was humming along to her practice track while she was writing down notes for her design.

She was mostly finished with the final sketch, and Marinette wondered if it would be too early to already buy the fabric she needed.

She checked her calendar for when the recording of the new music video was and decided that maybe it would be a good idea to buy the fabric now.

If Marinette had been to school that day, she probably would have asked her manager to help her buy it, but seeing as she had decided to take the day off, she had plenty of time to find the fabric she needed on her own.

Marinette caught sight of herself in her mirror and stopped in her tracks. She brought a hand up to one of her pigtails, and Tikki flew up to her shoulder, looking at Marinette quizzically in the mirror.

"Marinette?" Tikki asked curiously.

"Maybe it's about time for a change," Marinette mused.

The pigtails, for better or worse, felt like something connected to her classmates. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Marinette held fond memories of Alya brushing her hair out and tying it back up, playing and experimenting with different styles. But the new song and mini-album truly felt like the end of an era.

Marinette had called the mini-album that for a reason.

So maybe it was about time that she changed the old pigtails up for something new. She didn't want it to be a simple change though, like tying it up differently or keeping it down.

Marinette thought briefly about asking Alix for advice; her hair had always been a bit more on the wild side.

But Alix and Marinette weren't friends, hadn't been for a long time. Then again, Marinette thought as her mind drifted to the class that morning, maybe that would be changing soon.

Marinette didn't expect to actually _see _Alix once she took her eyes off of her reflection, and she positively _shrieked _as she finally realized Alix was there. 

Marinette hadn't even noticed how Tikki had hid only moments before, and she looked around her room in disgruntlement. Marinette turned off the music, glaring half-heartedly as Alix started cackling.

"Sorry, sorry Marinette, I just-" Alix kept cutting herself off, trying to catch her breath while still laughing. "Oh god you should have seen your face!"

Marinette waited for Alix to have laughed it out, eyebrow raised, hands on her cocked hips.

"Is it safe for us to come up?" Kim's voice rang from downstairs.

Alix looked at Marinette, as if to ask for permission, and Marinette very confusedly nodded.

"Yeah it's alright, I just, the look on Marinette's face was priceless."

Marinette shrunk in on herself, as if to protect herself from Alix and what Alix could possibly say to make the day worse.

"Wait- no- I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that-"

Kim came up to the room, followed closely by Max.

"We've hardly even stepped foot inside and you've already scared her?" Max asks in disbelief.

"I didn't mean to, I swear!"

Marinette looked at the trio with furrowed brows, slowly uncurling from herself.

"Why are you all here?" Marinette's voice shook, and she reminded herself to calm down before an Akuma would come.

It was quiet for a few moments, as the three of them looked at each other, probably trying to figure out who should tell her.

Kim was the one who spoke up.

"We know that Lila is a liar."

Marinette froze, eyes wide and mouth agape as she looked at her classmates.

"What..." Her voice was faint, and Marinette wasn't entirely sure she actually said anything.

"We figured it out after this morning," Kim pressed on. "We knew that you were NeTi, and Lila _clearly_ made a jab at you. We looked into it more during class and..."

They all looked down.

"We are _so_ sorry, Marinette," Alix said. "We should have believed you before when Lila first came but we-"

Alix was cut off as Marinette flung herself at the three, crushing them in a hug.

"Thank you, thank you so much," she sobbed.

The trio looked at each other, over Marinette, before they all returned the hug.

"I've missed you all so _much,_" her voice cracked. "I didn't know what to do."

Kim started making shushing noises, hoping to calm Marinette down. Maybe she was crying happy tears right now, but he was still scared an Akuma would come.

It took a bit, but eventually, Marinette was coherent enough to guide them all over to her chaise, where she took a seat.

Alix sat down next to her, and so did Max, Kim taking a seat on the floor in front of them.

The trio shared a look before turning their attention back to Marinette.

"We also know that Adrien is in on it."

Marinette froze. She looked at all of them, seeing the question on all of their minds. She sighed.

"It... It's complicated." Marinette settled on.

"Com- Marinette he knew and didn't do anything to help you!" Kim exclaimed.

"We just... didn't want Lila to get akumatized again." Marinette looked down in her lap, fiddling with her fingers.

"He's letting Lila manipulate all of us," Alix said.

"I know..." Marinette whispered back. "I didn't want to keep quiet about it but..."

Alix wrapped an arm around Marinette's shoulder, pulling the girl closer to herself.

"It's okay-"

"But it's not!" Marinette snapped, pulling herself away from Alix's grasp. "Everyone is fighting all the time! Nino and Alya broke up, same with Ivan and Mylene!"

The others looked down, thinking about everything that had happened, how the class slowly had fallen apart. How so much of it had been blamed on Marinette, even if the girl had nothing to do with it.

"It's not your fault, Marinette," Max suddenly said.

That was what finally broke the dam. Every dirty look, every mean message. All of it had always come down to one thing.

_"It's not your fault, Marinette."_

Marinette cried.

Her breathing hitched. Tears welled up. It was as if something finally snapped inside her, and the tears started to trickle down as Marinette started to hiccup, and wail, and sob.

Marinette's face was red, her nose was running, and she screamed her heart out.

The others looked, stunned, as their usually composed and cheerful class president broke apart in front of them.

Alix was the first one to snap out of her stupor, and she was quick to pull Marinette into a bone-crushing hug, swaying them both in a steady rhythm whilst shushing the class president.

Max and Kim looked around in alarm, checking and keeping an eye out for an Akuma, both letting out relieved sighs when they saw none. Hawkmoth must not have been active at the moment.

Marinette slowly calmed down, the trio waiting with bated breath for her to speak, only for Alix to realize the girl had fallen asleep in her arms.

* * *

It had taken several calls, but Bruce Wayne finally managed to finalize a class trip for Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He wasn't sure what had driven him to help the idol with organizing the sudden class trip, but before he knew it, he was spending a good hour or two the Monday after his short trip to Paris, on making phone calls and arrangements.

Maybe it was the dim spark in the young performer's eyes that had made him act. It was like she had been present the entire night, yet far off, always thinking of something else.

Or perhaps, it was her dedication to making a good class trip, despite already being busy with a number of other things. He wondered briefly if she even slept at night.

His sons would more than likely be curious as to what a french class was doing in Gotham, touring various Wayne buildings, but Bruce thought that it might be better to keep the fact that he had invited NeTi to Gotham a secret.

Perhaps he could surprise Dick, Tim and Jason with their favorite idol when the class came.

Still, Bruce had his doubts about inviting the class. From what he had heard from his three eldest sons, it wasn't often that the idol talked about any particular friends, and a quick look at said idol's social media proved that there were no pictures either.

Maybe he could ask Alfred to look further into the situation later.

He looked over the calendar with everything the class would be doing on their two week trip to Gotham.

The first week was dedicated to touring Wayne buildings and different museums, the second week was more of a free week, of course with the Friday scheduled international talent show that he knew Marinette was guest performing in.

The international talent show had been linked to the charity gala he had attended in Paris, and had been organized by the biggest sponsors and doners, Bruce being among them.

It was another reason he had decided to invite the french class. Marinette would have gone to Gotham soon anyways, so it felt like an opportune moment to do so. 

Bruce had talked to Jagged Stone before about the rockstar's talented "niece" and he had heard his sons talk about her plenty too. From what he had heard, it hardly seemed like the girl ever got a break, something Alfred had pointed out was rather concerning.

Maybe Gotham wasn't the safest place for the girl or her classmates, but Bruce had hope that the trip would turn out well in the end.

Now he just had to get back to work and see how things progressed with the french class once they were actually there.


	5. Of hairstyle changes and Airplane seats

Marinette hadn't gone to school for the rest of the week. Her parents had heard her breakdown, and decided that a small mental health break would be good for their stressed-out daughter.

Marinette ended up having a long conversation with Kim, Alix, and Max about... everything. From her damned agreement with Adrien years ago, to how her career as NeTi _actually_ started.

Then Adrien had arrived a little later, Marinette not doubting for a second that he had kept an eye out for when the trio left.

Marinette, after all of her training with Master Fu, could sense the miraculous close to her. That, mixed with the amount of time she spent around Chat both in and out of the costume, helped Marinette figure out that Chat Noir was Adrien.

So, Marinette had felt the ring around close by sometime after the trio had first arrived in her room, and her suspicions of him spying were confirmed when, around ten minutes after they had left, Adrien showed up at the door.

"We need to talk."

His brows had been furrowed, he had been fiddling with his ring.

They went up to her room, neither of them looking at the other. Once they were up and the door was closed, Adrien let out a sigh.

"Look Marinette- we can't have Alix or Kim out Lila," He looked at her so pleadingly, and her chest tightened.

"You said it yourself Adrien, her lies would expose herself when the time came," Marinette tried to keep her voice as steady as possible, sending Adrien a leveled gaze.

"Having them speak up about it will just humiliate her! Especially after what she said about knowing- knowing _you_!"

Marinette flinched.

"And that's another thing! How dare you be mad at Lila for lying when you kept something this big a secret all this time!" Adrien fumed. "What Lila said today was your own damn fault, even if we both know she didn't mean anything by it."

"Didn't mean- Adrien she was being racist!"

"She didn't know what it would sound like, she didn't mean it like that," Adrien had said, looking Marinette straight in the eyes.

When Adrien had left, Marinette was filled with a hollow feeling and soul-crushing guilt. She wasn't even entirely sure why.

Then, he showed up again later, this time as Chat Noir.

He ranted for a while about Ladybug, talking about how she still wasn't seeing things his way, about his frustrations with his strict family.

But then he had talked about _Marinette._

She doubted that he knew that _she_ knew that he was Adrien, otherwise he probably wouldn't have started talking about an argument he had not that long ago, with a friend who was being unreasonable.

It had left Marinette stunned for a moment.

Never had she imagined that she would end up being one of the things he complained about.

It made the hollow feeling in her chest more consuming, and her guilt grew to the size of her shadow.

Marinette sighed.

Tikki had reassured her once Chat left that she was _not_ being unreasonable, and that he had _quite some nerve_ coming to Marinette of all people to complain about it.

Marinette had just gone to bed, mumbling a little excuse to Tikki, the weight of the day finally pushing on her eyelids.

Besides the altercations with Adrien, her free week had gone quite nicely in her opinion. The trio would come and visit her after school every day, and even eat lunch with her on occasion. Alix had informed her that the class had been invited on a sponsored trip to Gotham by Bruce Wayne, something that Lila had been quick to claim was her doing.

Marinette had gone to Master Fu as well, getting the horse miraculous, and handing out the snake and dragon.

They talked about Chat Noir too.

"Soon."

It was a weird promise.

* * *

The Sunday before the class trip, Marinette had somehow managed to convince Alix to go with her to do Marinette's hair.

They didn't go to salon, Marinette's hairstylist being more than happy to do her hair.

Somehow, they instead found themselves in Jagged Stone's hotel room.

Marinette wasn't sure why, she had just mentioned to Jagged that she was getting her hair dyed for the first time, and he had demanded to be present. Telling Alix that Marinette was getting her hair done at Jagged's place seemed to have helped the pink-haired girl go with at least.

"You know, the others are going to freak when they see you tomorrow right?"

Marinette sighed, looking at Alix through the mirror.

"I know, but at this point? I just don't care," she looked down at her lap, clenching her hands. "Not anymore..." she mumbled.

Alix looked pained, Marinette thought once she lifted her gaze again, so she smiled reassuringly at the girl.

"I care about you though. And Kim and Max. It's been nice to have friends to talk to," An offended hey could be heard in the background. "Besides Jagged and Clara, I mean," she added with a grin.

"I still can't believe you used to be _neighbors,_" Alix said, shaking her head lightly.

"My parents were his neighbors," Marinette corrected. "They just kept in contact after my parents moved to Paris."

"They make the best eclairs!" Jagged yelled distractedly, playing with Fang on the floor. "Of course I'd keep in contact!"

Marinette just rolled her eyes.

Her stylist started taking off the foil and washed off the residue dye. Marinette's hair was blowdried and styled, and when Marinette looked in the mirror, she couldn't help but smile.

It was quiet in the hotel room for a moment as Marinette took in her new look.

"You've really changed, haven't you?" Alix suddenly asked, and Marinette was just about to retort when Alix reassured. "I mean that in a good way! It's just- you seem more confident. Comfortable."

Marinette thought about, turning her head to look at herself again.

"I guess you're right," She looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers before looking at Alix again. "I've never really thought of how much of myself I gave to the class, but never really gave to myself," She shrugged. "It's weird, thinking about my own needs, but this week has actually been really nice."

Alix smiled at her, and Marinette returned the gesture.

* * *

Marinette arrived at the airport on her own.

Well, not completely, a bodyguard had accompanied her, but Marinette had decided against taking the bus with the rest of the class.

The reason why was largely that Marinette didn't want to listen to Lila. Alix, Kim, and Max had tried their best to disprove Lila's claims, but Lila had been slippery and was quick to make excuses for all of their accusations.

After that had gone on for a while, Marinette told them to just drop it and wait until Lila messed up somehow, or until Marinette _actually_ sued the Italian, like she very much wanted to do.

They had grumbled a bit, but Marinette promised that they would figure something out, and if she had to, she would out the liar herself as NeTi.

Marinette was slightly offended when the majority of the class, save for the trio and Mme. Bustier, seemed surprised to see her for this class trip at all. They probably hadn't expected her to come, or maybe Lila had lied about her absence in some way.

She was surprised however, when Rose and Juleka came up to her and complimented her new hair, Marinette stuttering and stumbling over her thank you's.

She had been quite happy with how it had turned herself.

Her hair looked completely normal from the back, except for maybe the fact that it was now loose and bluntly cut at her shoulders, rather than in the usual pigtails. If people looked from the front however, they would see that under the outer most visible part of her hair, it was dyed peach pink.

When she had gotten it done, Alix had noted that it reflected Marinette quite a lot. At first glance, she might seem like a normal girl, but there was something special that Marinette was hiding.

Marinette had sweat-dropped at this, even if she knew that Alix was probably referring to her career as NeTi and not her being Ladybug.

Lila had made a comment about how it made Marinette look like a delinquent, quickly adding that she meant no harm of course.

Marinette didn't pay that any mind, focusing instead on where she was going to sit on the plane.

It seemed Bruce had simply just decided to change the original flight she was supposed to have taken later for when she was originally going to Gotham, because her seat was exactly the same.

She couldn't say that she was disappointed getting to sit first class and away from her classmates, even if she had slightly wanted to sit next to Alix.

When the announcement was made that everyone on first-class had to board, Marinette was stopped by one angry Alya.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Alya asked, crossing her arms and looking at the idol with narrowed eyes.

"Boarding," Marinette answered simply, with a bored tone.

"We're not supposed to board yet if you hadn't-"

Marinette didn't even give Alya the chance to talk, simply walking up to the personnel, showed them her ticket, and boarded her flight, only looking back to wave at Alix, Kim, and Max, all of whom snickering in their hands as they looked at Alya's stunned expression.

Lila was quick to jump into action however, and walked up to the person who was accepting people's tickets.

"I'm sorry, but some tickets must have been mixed up, I'm supposed to sit in first class," Lila said, fluttering her eyelashes and looking at the worker with every ounce of fake innocence that she could muster.

"Do you have any form of documentation for that?" They asked Lila. 

"Ah, no, you see, I lost the paper where I printed the email on, and the email was deleted," Lila tried, but the worker looked unimpressed.

"What's your name?"

"Lila Rossi."

The worker typed something up on the computer and simply shook their head.

"I'm sorry, but it says you have an economy seat in our system. I can't get you a first-class seat without any form of proper documentation," They told Lila in a bored tone, it probably not being the first time someone tried to get a different seat.

Lila was just about to come up with something else when the worker simply said next, and she was shoved to the side by what appeared to be pissed off businesswoman.

* * *

When the flight had landed, Alya wanted to have a serious conversation with Marinette.

Asking her parents to pay for a first-class seat? _Unbelievable._

Alya was absolutely seething as she watched her class president walk away with some strange man in a suit. Who even was that guy?

Ever since the class had taken off for the trip, it seemed as if Marinette got special treatment, arriving privately, sitting in first class, and now this, leaving in a private car.

It didn't make sense.

Alya stomped her way over to Mme. Bustier, her face screaming murder. Everyone parted a way for her; Kim, Alix, and Max all sharing a worried look.

"Mme. Bustier!" Alya's voice rang clear in the car park where the class was waiting for their bus. "Why isn't Marinette driving to the hotel with us? And what was the deal with her sitting first class on the plane?"

Mme. Bustier looked at Alya in surprise, having thought that the reporter would already know.

"The plane ticket was one that Marinette had already previously had to Gotham, from my understanding," Alya's eyes widened. "and the rest are security measures made by both Mr. Wayne, as well as Marinette's company."

Mme. Bustier knew full well about Marinette's career, had been one of the first informed as well, partly because of Marinette having to be gone for more than a month because of touring and training.

"What do you _mean_ Marinette's company? Marinette isn't part of any company, I would know," Alya insisted.

Mme. Bustier's brows furrowed.

"Marinette has been part of an entertainment company since she was 13, so I don't know what you're talking about."

Alya was taken aback. Marinette had been in some type of entertainment company for _years_ and hadn't told her?

"I guess you didn't know her as well as you thought," Lila said, putting a comforting hand on Alya's shoulder. "She should have told you about this."

Alya was pissed. Marinette had some nerve thinking that she could just keep something that big from her best friend.

"Why would she keep something like that a secret?" Alya's voice shook as she asked Lila.

"Maybe she didn't want to tell you," Lila shrugged. "or maybe she just didn't want to help you with your career. She could have gotten you so many opportunities, couldn't she?"

Lila's voice was all sweet innocence, her eyes big and thoughtful, as if it was something to be pondered.

"If I was Marinette, I would have told you immediately, friends shouldn't keep secrets like that."

Lila was right, of course she was, and it just made Alya even more mad. Marinette didn't deserve that career, Lila did.

"You would probably be better at it than she is too," Alya said. "What does she even do? I certainly haven't heard about her."

"Ah, I don't know, I don't think I'd be that great in entertainment," Lila looked down, fiddling with her jacket.

"Wha- of course you'd be great! Didn't Clara Nightingale want _you _to be her protegé?" 

"I guess..." Lila trailed off, looking up at Alya before shrugging. "I just don't like all of the attention, you know? I hate being in the spotlight like that, Marinette probably loves it though."

Alya sneered.

"It's just like her, such an attention whore," Alya rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I can't believe I thought she was nice."

The bus arrived and everyone got in, Alya and Lila continuing to talk about Marinette, largely in distaste.

* * *

Marinette let out a tired sigh as she collapsed on her large, soft bed, another thing Alya had thrown a hissy fit over.

_"Why is Marinette's room so much bigger than ours?"_

The room was one that had been previously booked for her stay in Gotham, Bruce having somehow managed to extend her booking, rather than changing her room completely.

Kim, Max, and Alix had left not that long ago, having told her all about Alya's little episode at the airport.

It hadn't surprised Marinette that Lila managed to make Marinette's secrecy look bad, she even understood why Alya might have been hurt by the fact that Marinette had kept it a secret.

Marinette had her reasons for why she had kept it a secret however and she felt like it was okay for her to keep certain things private. In the beginning, Marinette hadn't wanted to tell Alya until she had an actual confirmed debut date, but by that time, Alya already seemed to hate her. Why in the world should Marinette tell someone who hated her that she was about to debut as an idol?

As for the contacts, well...

Marinette hadn't wanted Alya to be her friend just because she could get her good contacts and interviews. Jagged and Clara had both warned her about making friends with reporters while an understudy. It was simply just too big of a risk.

"This is going to be a long trip," Marinette sighed.

"Don't worry Marinette, I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy here," Tikki reassured, nuzzling her chosen's cheek. "We could go and explore Gotham for a bit before going to bed," she suggested.

"Are you sure?" Marinette asked, kind of uncertain. "It's kinda late now."

She would be lying if she said she didn't want to, however.

"We'll be fine Marinette, you need some fresh air."

Marinette sighed, before looking at her door. She couldn't go out of the hotel entrance, Claude would be around somewhere and either tell her to head back to her room, or demand to go with her.

She looked at her window instead.

"I guess there's only one way to get out," she turned to Tikki and grinned. "Tikki, spots on."


	6. Of first and second meetings

Gotham truly was a beautiful city.

Marinette had gotten a good look at it after she had transformed, flying up in the air and looking for a good place to detransform in, ending up in an alley somewhere.

Her Ladybug suit had changed after her debut as NeTi. Now, she had a black, long-sleeve cheongsam top, with a red sleeveless top that had a round neckline, dots placed a bit more strategically with one small at the top, one big in the middle, and another small one at the bottom front, where it stopped around her bellybutton. It had two long coattails, going down to her knees. Her legs and stomach were completely black, save for the red soles on her shoes.

She had been quite happy to find that there was a hole in the middle of her back, where wings now resided on her bare skin.

After Marinette had detransformed, she had panicked when she realized she had forgotten her medical mask back in her hotel room. Tikki told Marinette to just put up her hood and then it would be hard to recognize her.

So, Marinette walked the dark streets of Gotham alone, and despite everything in her logical mind yelling that it wasn't safe, Marinette hadn't felt this relaxed in ages. Maybe it was the continuous sound of cars driving by, or the chatter of people walking down the streets.

Marinette, in all her loneliness, had taken to keeping her skylight open at night, focusing on the sound of people.

For some reason, it helped her breathe.

Of course, that came with its own set of dangers, namely Chat Noir, but Marinette had gotten good at waking up from the sense of him near.

It was nice that no one seemed to recognize her either. She knew that it was probably because of the dark and her hoodie dress, but it was still a nice little break. 

Marinette let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping. She pulled out her phone, going wide-eyed as she saw what the time was.

"I should probably head back to the hotel..." She mumbled under her breath.

She looked around, before discreetly walking into an alley where she could transform. Marinette pulled on her oversized hoodie's neckline, Tikki sleeping in one of the inside pockets she had made.

Marinette was just about to tell Tikki that it was time to go, when she heard a thud on the roof of one of the buildings.

She let go of her neckline quickly, and looked up, only to see a boy's silhouette.

* * *

It was a standard patrol that night.

It had been pretty uneventful so far, in Damian's opinion, and he really wasn't in the mood to go around Gotham today.

For some weird reason, his father had thought it was a good idea to invite an entire class from France to visit Gotham, and Damian just _knew_ that at least one of them would cause problems. He _did not_ feel like babysitting a class full of foreigners that didn't speak English, no thank you.

Damian snapped out of his internal complaining however when he spotted a hooded figure walking into a dark alley. He felt suspicion crawl up his neck, and he quickly told the others that he was checking something out real quick.

When he landed on the roof of one of the buildings, the person quickly turned around to see where the noise came from.

Damian felt his breathing hitch when wide bluebell eyes met his.

In the girl's fast turn, her hood had fallen off, revealing midnight blue hair, hiding peach pink coloring.

"Hello..." She said faintly, and Damian noted a slight heating in his cheeks.

"You know, it's quite late for an attractive girl like yourself to be out. Especially in Gotham."

"O-oh!" The girl coughed, looking anywhere but at him. "I- uh, I got a bit lost. I've never been to Gotham before so..." she trailed off, her foot awkwardly kicking the ground.

Damian heard a slight french accent, and he wondered if she was part of the French class he had been complaining about all day.

"You're one of the heroes from here, right?" She looked up at him with her big eyes, and Damian hated how endearing it made her appear.

"Robin," he said curtly. 

The girl smiled brightly at him, Damian cursing his heart for fluttering.

"My name's Marinette, I'm here with my class on a trip from France. It's an honor to meet you."

Her name sounded familiar to him, but he brushed it off. He had met so many people in his life already, he wouldn't be surprised if he'd met a Marinette before.

"Well Angel, how about I take you back to the hotel," he spoke before thinking.

Damian considered taking back the statement for a moment, but the way the girl's eyes lit up and her smile widened made him stop in his tracks.

"I mean, if it's not a bother then-"

"Of course not," Damian jumped down from the roof, and for the first time got a closer look at the girl's face.

He noticed the faint freckles peppering her cheeks, as well as the light blush that even touched her ears. Damian thought she looked familiar, but he shook the thought out of his head.

This was her first time in Gotham, so there was no reason for her to seem familiar to him.

She was pretty too, beautiful even. He felt as if he would remember if he had met her.

"So, Angel, are you ready?"

Her answering smile had his heart beating faster.

* * *

Marinette thought about Robin as she lied in her hotel bed, trying to fall asleep.

The heroes in Gotham were different to those in Paris.

Robin couldn't be much older than Marinette herself, and yet here he was fighting crime, even without a protective layer of magic to help him.

It was something that had always scared Marinette about the heroes without magic. They were just normal human beings, they weren't built for fighting the same way Marinette now was.

Of course, Marinette wasn't magic, at least not completely, but she still had magic that helped protect her, and that magic was powered by what was essentially the goddess of creation!

It was both inspiring and nerve-wracking at the same time.

Marinette let out a sigh.

She had woken up about an hour ago, having fallen out of the bed. Marinette stayed mostly quiet, not wanting to wake Tikki up at three in the morning, so instead, she had spent the early hours of the morning being on her phone.

Now an hour had gone by however, and Marinette was starting to feel both restless and bored.

She checked the time, deciding to take a shower. There was still a while before the class had to meet up, so she wasn't too worried about not making it in time. Truth be told, Marinette hadn't been late to school in a while. Now she always woke up early, having a quick one hour practice before getting ready to leave.

Of course, there were more enjoyable ways to wake up, and falling out of the bed was never really nice. Marinette was happy to say that it didn't happen too often however.

When she was done with her shower, Marinette started to get dressed, noticing her phone buzzing on the bed, stirring Tikki slightly.

Marinette went to turn it off when she read the messages that had been sent.

'Lila somehow managed to talk to Bustier into changing some plans'

The first text from Alix read, and Marinette's heart sunk.

'we're leaving early- Lila told Bustier she had informed you of the changes'

Panic took its place in Marinette's stomach.

'the bus leaves @8'

Marinette quickly looked at the time, and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to throw her phone.

8:05

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

This was fine. She would just ask Claude, her bodyguard, to drive her there. He was going to come with her anyway for the tour anyway.

Marinette sighed, nudging Tikki awake.

"Time to wake up Tikki, Claude will drive us to the Wayne building."

"Wh- wha?"

Marinette just smiled at her drowsy kwami, before putting Tikki in her purse and putting on her black medical mask.

When she walked out of her room, she saw Claud stood ready for her outside of her door.

"I'm sorry to inform you that your class has already left," Claude said, wincing at his words.

"Yeah, I know, Alix texted me that Lila pulled some strings," Marinette grinned wrily, though Claude couldn't see it. "I don't know what strings she has to pull, but..." she shrugged.

Claude sighed, ruffling her hair and ignoring the indignant 'hey!'.

* * *

Dick was looking very forward to the french class arriving for the tour.

After Damian had gone slightly off route for last night's patrol, then saying that he would be back but then not showing up for an hour, it made his three brothers drill him about what happened.

It took a while, and a lot of prying, but Dick figured it out before the others did.

"So who's the girl?"

Damian had stiffened, and that was when Dick knew he had hit the mark.

The others had noticed too, and Jason had pounced immediately.

"A girl talked to Demon Spawn and didn't immediately run for the hills?" He asked in overdramatized shock. "This is a once in a lifetime chance! No way another girl will do that."

"Shut up, Todd," Damian grit out.

Dick would have felt bad for Damian, if it weren't for the fact that he found it way too amusing.

"It's a statistical improbability!" Tim added.

"So, what is the unfortunate soul's name?" Jason asked, slinging his arm over Damian's shoulder.

Damian crinkled his nose in disdain, lifting Jason's arm off of his shoulder in disgust. Looking around the excited faces of his brothers, he let out a tired sigh and crossed his arms.

"Marinette," He grumbled out. "I didn't get her last name, but she's here with that french class or whatever."

There was quiet between the brothers for a bit before Dick finally asked.

"You mean Marinette like NeTi Marinette? Rock idol NeTi?" Dick squeaked out.

Damian thought about it a little before shrugging.

"I don't know, but I don't think so? Isn't her hair black or something?" When all of his brothers nodded, Damian shook his head. "Then it wasn't her. Some of her hair was dyed."

The brothers deflated, bummed at the missed opportunity.

Dick, Tim, and Jason were all big NeTi fans. Tim was the first one to start listening to his music. He had always been a big Jagged Stone fan, so when he found out that his favorite musician's "niece" was releasing music, he checked it out. Dick and Jason followed soon after, but Damian never really gave her music a try.

Something about her probably being a flake. 

Still, despite the disappointment, Dick wanted a look at the girl who had somehow charmed his youngest brother. Which was why he was confused when the french class arrived, but no girl fitting the description Damian gave was there. After a quick headcount, Dick was quick to bring this to the teacher's attention.

"Mme. Bustier?" The teacher looked at him with a questioning gaze. "You seem to be missing a student."

Her eyes widened, and Dick got the sinking feeling that the teacher hadn't counted her students before leaving the hotel. Great.

"If you wouldn't mind, is it okay if I took attendance for a moment?"

Dick nodded, but Mme. Bustier got cut off before she even got the chance to start.

"Don't worry, that won't be necessary."

Dick looked towards the sound of his brother's voice, his eyes widening at the sight of his brother linking arms with a girl he could only assume was Marinette.

* * *

Damian wanted nothing more than to find Marinette the day after patrol.

He used the information that he had, which was her first name and the fact that she was part of the French class that would be touring Wayne Enterprises, to try and find her.

He would have tried to get more information on her, but Bruce had strictly told all of his sons that they were not allowed to research the class, for some stupid reason that he wouldn't tell.

He didn't understand why, and he was highly tempted to say screw the rules, but one stern look from Alfred stopped him.

Instead, he decided to go with his brother to give the tour, in hopes that he could meet the girl as a civilian.

He was quick to notice however, once the class arrived at the front doors where he stood, keeping an eye out for her, that she wasn't there.

His brows furrowed, and he looked around in confusion and counting the class.

She wasn't there.

Had she lied?

No, there was supposed to be one more student, Damian noted as he counted them all.

They didn't forget her, did they?

Damian cursed under his breath and walked out, ignoring his brother calling out to him, as he started heading towards the parking lot. If he was lucky, she would still be at her hotel, and he could run into her there.

He didn't get very far however, as almost as soon as he stepped foot into the parking lot, someone walked into him.

"Hey! Look where you're-"

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going and then-"

Damian was just about to level a glare at the girl, when his eyes widened in recognition.

"-and my class sort of left me behind so I was in a bit of a hurry and-"

She was rambling, he realized, and he wondered briefly about whether or not she had taken a breath yet.

"It's okay," He finally cut her off. "You said your class left you behind?"

He looked her over, noting the black medical mask she was wearing, as well as a tall man in a suit standing not that far behind her, reminding Damian of a bodyguard.

"Yeah, they uh, apparently changed the time of the tour, and I wasn't informed about it, so..." She trailed off.

It angered Damian slightly. He didn't know her, sure, but Gotham wasn't a safe city to be in, especially alone. How the teacher allowed this to happen, he had no idea.

"Well, I happen to know the route the tour is going, I could show you to your class?" Damian asked.

Marinette looked behind her, and when the unknown man in a suit nodded, Marinette beamed at him.

"That would be wonderful, thank you!"

Damian looked at the guy with narrowed eyes before looking at the girl and offering his arm.

"If you don't mind me asking, who's your friend over there?" She stiffened slightly, before laughing awkwardly.

"He's uh... A type of chaperone?" Her eyes crinkled and she shrugged. It was hard to tell what she was thinking or feeling when half of her face was covered. "I'm Marinette, by the way. Nice to meet you," She smiled.

"Damian. It's nice to meet you too," Damian relaxed, easing into a small smile, and he started to lead the girl towards the irresponsible class. "So Angel, is it your first time in Gotham?"

He hadn't meant for the nickname he had given her the night before to slip, but it didn't seem she noticed, stuttering a response.

"Y-yeah. I only really travel to Asia when I go places..." She trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Oh? Where have you been?"

And just like that, they fell into easy conversation.

At least, until they reached the class.


	7. Of phone numbers and crying

"Don't worry, that won't be necessary," Damian's voice cut through the chatter of the class, and Marinette wondered how he managed to do that.

Immediately, everyone's eyes were on them, and Marinette found herself shrinking, hiding behind Damian slightly.

"Marinette!" Alix and Kim yelled out, with Max standing between the two, all three of them looking worried.

"I didn't know if you would have been able to get here," Alix said, walking over to Marinette.

"Claude drove me," Marinette said, nodding in her bodyguard's direction who waved at them.

"Mme. Bustier wouldn't listen to us when we said she forgot you," Kim told her, looking mad at the teacher.

Marinette's grip on Damian tightened slightly, before she took a deep breath and relaxed again.

"Your teacher didn't do a headcount?" Damian asked incredulously, looking down at her, Marinette simply shrugging. "That's-"

Damian was cut off by the shrill voice of Alya.

"Marinette how dare you!"

Marinette breathed in sharply, eyes darting between her three friends and Damian, before looking at Alya with panic in her eyes.

"Doing all of this for attention, I mean that's low, even for you."

Marinette blinked once, twice, cocking her head to the side, looking at Alya in confusion.

"...What?"

This response only seemed to anger Alya even more though, as she puffed out her chest and narrowed her eyes.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what! Acting as if you got left behind at the hotel? We know Lila told you about the change of plans, yet you just stay at the hotel and pull this crap!"

Marinette's brows furrowed.

"Lila never told me anything about a change of plans," Marinette stated simply.

"Yes she did, I saw her send you a text last night!" Alya exclaimed.

Marinette blinked a few times again.

"Lila doesn't have my number," Marinette slowly shook her head.

"Yes, she does because I gave it to her," Marinette's eyes narrowed.

"You don't have my number either," She said curtly. "And even if you did, you have no business handing it out to people without my permission."

"What do you mean I don't have your number?" Alya asked, confused.

Marinette just rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you should check when you last used that number," Marinette simply stated, before walking over to the back of the group, the class looking at her wide-eyed.

She wanted to feel bad for saying that stuff to Alya, and by the disappointed look Adrien sent her, she knew that he thought so too. She shrunk in on herself, hiding behind Damian slightly, who looked at her confused before finally spotting Adrien, promptly sending a glare his way.

"Your classmates seem nice," Damian said sarcastically.

Marinette laughed awkwardly, keeping an eye on the group as they started walking.

"We used to be really close to each other, but I guess we grew apart," Marinette shrugged. "Not everyone is all bad though, Alix, Kim, and Max are all my friends," She said, pointing in the direction of the trio, Kim wiggling his brows and Alix sending them a wink. "...Never mind."

* * *

It was interesting, being able to talk to Marinette properly. He had only truly gotten a hint of her personality the night before, so holding a full conversation with her was nice.

"In my pajamas! It was so embarrassing," Marinette told, covering her face with her hands. "I don't know how many pictures Alya has put up of me on her Instagram. She took them down a couple of years ago, but gosh, I was so embarrassed."

Damian hadn't expected Marinette to be a bit of a spaz, but he found that it was a rather endearing trait of hers.

"She just posted pictures of you without asking?"

Marinette paused for a moment, probably trying to remember, only to end up shaking her head.

"I was fine with it in the beginning, we were friends and it was mostly just our classmates that saw, but..." Marinette shrugged. "It did start bothering me after a while, but she wouldn't take the pictures down for some time." She looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to think of the right words. "Because of the Ladyblog, Alya has a lot of followers, and some of them follow her everyday Instagram account too. I started getting some rude comments on my own posts, on an account I have now deleted."

Damian was starting to dislike her classmates less and less, the more Marinette told. Disrespecting her privacy several times over, asking her to do things last minute. He did wonder what the Ladyblog was however, and noted to himself to check it out later, or ask Tim to look into it for him.

"Do they always just... expect things from you?" Damian asked.

That made Marinette stop in her tracks, brows furrowed in thought. In the end, she just let out a sigh before gently pulling him along again.

"I guess? I don't really know why it became that way, I just- I've always been happy to help, you know?" She said, finishing off with a disarming smile.

Damian was left speechless for a moment. This girl's generosity was getting abused on a daily basis, and all she had to say was that she was happy to help?

She didn't even seem upset about it!

"You really are an angel, aren't you?"

It didn't hit Damian that he had said it out loud until he noticed how her eyes widened and the most wonderful rosy color filled her cheeks.

"I-I don't know about a-angel, really..."

This was his chance! Come on Wayne, you can be smooth, just don't be rude to the girl who was literally heaven-sent.

"Of course you are, Angel, and I think I'd like to keep calling you that," Damian said, trying to look at her as charmingly as possible. "Unless you don't want me to, of course."

Damian smiled in success as Marinette stammered out an okay, looking more and more flustered by the moment, until she just gave up and nodded instead.

"If it would not be too much trouble then, Angel, would you like to join me for lunch today after the tour?"

Marinette didn't get the chance to reply, as just when she opened her mouth to give him an answer, someone yelled out.

"Marinette!"

* * *

"Marinette!"

Dread filled Marinette's chest as Adrien called out to her. Her grip on Damian's arm tightened, Damian looking at her in confusion before looking in the direction of the voice.

She hadn't even gotten the chance to process that Damian had the same nickname for her as Robin did.

Adrien had quickly made his way over to the duo at the back, Claude standing at the ready discreetly behind them.

"Marinette, Princess, why don't you join me and the other's for lunch later?" Adrien asked, smile blinding.

Marinette wasn't sure if the use of her nickname was an accident or not, but she couldn't really find it in herself to care over the feeling of fear.

"I uh- actually I was going to-"

"Come on, the others feel bad about leaving you behind at the hotel, they want to make it up to you."

Marinette could only imagine what making it up to her would look like, and she would rather not have her fears confirmed. She knew what they really wanted to do with her, or at least Adrien, and Marinette wasn't interested at the moment.

"I just made plans, actually," Marinette said, but her voice was meek and soft, wavering.

Adrien glanced at Damian, probably realizing what those plans were, and quickly grabbed Marinette's arm, pulling her from Damian.

"Come on, Princess, you can't seriously choose a stranger over me," Adrien took hold of her chin, tilting her head up and uncomfortably close to his. His hold on her arm was starting to hurt, Marinette noted to herself numbly. "We're in this together, aren't we?"

"N-no, Adrien let go," Marinette whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear, trying to get out of his hold. "Please."

"You know, Princess," Adrien continued mumbling, as if he hadn't heard her. "I think I've wasted my time going after Ladybug."

Marinette's thrashing started to become more violent, and she hoped that Claude would notice on his own, because Marinette was too scared to start yelling.

"Adrien, Adrien please, let go."

Damian took a step forward, but before he got the chance to do anything, Claude had already ripped Adrien away from Marinette.

"Mlle. Dupain-Cheng told you to let go, Agreste."

Claude kept his grip on Adrien as he started walking towards the tour guide, Richard if Marinette had heard correctly, nodding to her before he left.

Marinette rubbed her arm where Adrien had held her, even if she couldn't quite register the pain yet.

She couldn't believe he had actually done that in front of everyone, though it didn't seem like they had noticed the commotion at all. Then again, neither of them had been all that loud.

"Angel?" Damian's soft voice cut through her thoughts, and it wasn't until he gently started wiping them away, that Marinette realized tears were running down her cheeks. Hesitantly, he pulled her into his arms in a loose hold, probably wanting to make sure she was okay with it.

When all Marinette did was turn around and cry into his chest, his hold on her tightened.

* * *

After some time of Marinette crying in his arms, Damian slowly led the two of them to a secluded part of the building.

"Thank you," Her voice cut through the silence.

Damian had spent their quiet thinking about what had happened. Were Marinette and, Adrien if he heard correctly, dating? The look Marinette had given the blond boy would suggest otherwise, but what was their relationship then?

"Angel what... what happened in there?" Damian asked, looking at the girl with worry.

"Just Adrien being Adrien, I guess," She said softly, but she refused to look at him.

"Is he always doing that?" Damian asked, this time with a clear anger carrying in his voice.

"No! No, normally he doesn't get physical and stuff..."

It was obvious that she didn't want to talk, and Damian could understand that. He had only just met the girl properly, and already were too many things not going the way he thought they would. That didn't mean that he would give up though.

Marinette was a sincere girl, out of anything, that was what had stood out to him the most. She meant what she said, about herself and those around her.

That was why this was confusing Damian.

From the little he had seen of her, the situation with Adrien went against all of it.

Marinette was nice, yes, but she didn't seem like the type to not speak up against what, to Damian, looked like abuse.

He looked at the girl beside him, trying to understand her.

"Adrien seems like a bit of a dick to me," Damian said, feeling a swell of pride as he finally heard her giggle, if only a little bit.

"Yeah, he... he's been better. Not in a long time though," she sighed. "Adrien and I are best friends, or well, we used to be. He gets mad over everything I do though, so he's kind of hard to please..."

Damian frowned at that.

She shouldn't have to "please" Adrien, even if he was her best friend.

"What do your friends think about it?" He decided to ask, rather than saying what he really wanted to say.

Marinette's brows furrowed as she thought it over.

"I don't think they know," She shrugged. "Adrien normally sticks to our other classmates and stuff, so he usually only talks to me in private."

More and more alarm bells started going off in Damian's head, but he also knew better than to just tell her what was wrong with all of that.

Just from what she had been saying now, it seemed as if this was something that had been going on for years. If that was true, Marinette would most likely just deny whatever Damian said.

It wasn't even the fact that Marinette happened to be a girl he was interested in. What was going on between her and Adrien was clearly not healthy.

Maybe Damian would talk to his father about this later.


	8. A/N

First I would like to say sorry about no updates in so long!

A while back, I made a post on tumblr updating the status of this story and what I plan on doing with it, and well, for now, the story is "On Hold."

I am using that term very loosely, I'm aware, but what I mean if/when I return to this story, it won't be the same story.

This is what I wrote on tumblr.

* * *

I know a lot of people were waiting for an update for Of Birds and Bugs, but I have to tell you

I kind of don’t like the story.

I started writing OBaB because I wanted to write a daminette fic, but there’s not much more than that. I don’t have a proper plot, just premises that I think are kind of cool.

But truth be told, I’m not that happy with the fic, which is saying something because I pumped out 7 chapters of it, having outlined to chapter 11.

I have other maribat fics both released and in the works, none of which are actually daminette, but they are all projects that I actually, genuinely want to write.

For now, I’m putting it on hold. I don’t know when I’ll work on it again, but I don’t know how much of it will actually be the same once I do. Thank you to everyone who has read along with this, and I hope to continue having you as readers for everything else Maribat related.

Thank you for all the support on Of Birds and Bugs.

Rhu.

* * *

My deepest apologies to everyone who has been waiting and asking for this story to update.


End file.
